I love America.

In case you were wondering, I did finish C's wall hanging in time. And.. he likes it.
I sewed on the binding on Sunday, finished the edges last night after work, and put the last line of quilting on around the border this morning before driving to the airport. Pictures will be posted shortly-- i didn't have enough time to do a photo shoot yet.

I love how it turned out. I made it with all intentions of hanging it in Costas' office before he got back, but the timing didn't work out right, and I didn't get to go to the University last weekend. Now that it's done and just hanging around the living room, i see that it actually goes really well in there. Angeliki made the comment yesterday that she thought it was "Costas' colors" and i didn't really know what she meant, but now i see it in the house, and earlier i was in his closet for something, and there they are again! these muted, sophisticated, shibui colors appear again and again. hmm. I guess I learned something about my husband that was always there but I just never saw.

I am proud of myself for starting and finishing this project so quickly, and I think a lot of why I was able to do it was that I finally found a good set-up in this house...

This is a shot of how I quilt on the deck. This was taken Sunday morning-- I've got my coffee, camera, cell phone, and then the essential quilting tools-- the hanging toolbag came from the Silver City guild bag auction last month. Here's another shot:

*The top is a weighted pincushion with non-slip rubber on the bottom (so cool!)
*It has a cord attached with velcro at the end to hold scissors, and I put the spool of pearl cotton on there too.
*The bottom half is a pouch to hold whatever, with a small pocket (i usually put my thimble in there). The pouch is great for catching threads or holding other notions, like the 1/4" masking tape in the picture.

This thing is so awsome. When I bid on it I knew what it was, but hadn't examined it closely so I had no idea how useful it would be. It's not my first choice color scheme, but it's really well made, and I wish I had a pattern to make more for friends. Anyway, the best part is that I feel organized no matter where I'm quilting. It has made quilting outside into a very enjoyable experience, and I'd have to say that the deck is my favorite place in the house these days.

Well, Costas is already in bed, sleeping off his jetlag. I should join him because I've got an early day tomorrow. Through my window I see fireworks being shot off across the river. I'm glad I got to really enjoy the 4th of July season (weekend?) in America this year. This year, more than others, I feel like I'm really experiencing summer-- it's nice.